Trump Tells California Farmers 'There is No Drought' While Blaming Water Shortage on Tiny Fish

After the driest four years in California's history and with the potential for more dry spells on the way, the Republican party's presumptive nominee told the Fresno-area farmers on Friday that the drought is but an illusion.

"There is no drought," Donald Trump told a crowd in the state's agricutlural Central Valley. "We're going to solve your water problem."

Blaming what he called the government's efforts to save a certain "three inch fish" by pumping fresh water "out to sea," Trump assured the state's important farmer voting bloc that he has a solution in loosened environment regulations.

A small fish known as the Delta smelt has become a symbol of long-standing federal regulations for California farmers. The fish, which lives in waters that empty into the San Francisco Bay, is on the brink of extinction.

Preserving the fish is one of the reasons that a certain about of water is reserved from upstream to make it to the Bay.

"If I win, believe me, we're going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive," Trump said.

A day earlier, Trump revealed his energy plan to a crowd in North Dakota. That plan, too, depends largely on reducing environmental regulations.

The Fresno rally was one of two that Trump held in California on Friday.

At the San Diego rally, Trump saw one of the largest protests of his campaign to date.